Pantone Color Swatches: the universal numbering system for colors talk about synesthesia right? Well the Humane project is a work in progresses series that does this with our human skin: showing us there is much more subtlety and elegance in complexion than, black, white. brown, yellow and red.

Humanae is a chromatic inventory, a project that reflects on the colors beyond the borders of our codes by referencing the PANTONE® color scheme.

(PANTONE® Guides are one of the main classification systems of colors, which are represented by an alphanumeric code, allowing to accurately recreate any of them in any media. It is a technical industrial standard often called Real Color)

The project development is based on a series of portraits whose background is dyed with the exact Pantone® tone extracted from a sample of 11×11 pixels of the portrayed’s face. The project’s objective is to record and catalog all possible human skin tones.

via humane.tumblr.com

Be sure to look at their tumblr home page that shows this thought provoking categorization.

The Artist carrying out this ambitious idea is Angelica Dass of Rio De Janeiro Brasil. Many of her projects are statements and questions which delve into the touchy subjects of race, culture, identity, masks and other social issues.